CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Morgan Conservatory, 1754 East 47th St., will host its sixth annual juried exhibition 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., Friday, March 30. The foundation dedicated to paper making, book arts and letterpress is the largest center in the country of its kind and celebrates its tenth anniversary in the Midtown neighborhood this year.

The versatile ways artists use paper within their work - both as a medium and in the bookbinding and printmaking tradition - is at the center of "Paper Trails." Through the show's 69 works, 52 artists push the boundaries of how paper can be a tool of creativity. The works, which span sculpture, photography, painting, installation, book arts and more, are on view through April 28.

he uses of paper within the exhibition stretch the imagination about paper in all its contexts."

This marks the second year the Morgan Conservatory opened submissions to artists outside the region. In 2018, the Morgan had their highest number of submissions to date, nearly doubling last year's and coming from 21 states.

Serving as jurors are Nikki Woods, painter and director of Reinberger Gallery at the Cleveland Institute of Art, and Christina Vassallo, executive director of SPACES.

"Those who stood out exhibited an appreciation of the material properties of paper, but also of its alchemical composition by revealing countless ways that paper can be utilized to express new ideas," the jurors said in a joint statement. "The artists turned coffee stained envelopes into a fully developed narrative, created flourishing tendrils, applied pigment in unusual ways, and even told stories about the hidden lives of paper scraps."

FOUR TO SEE

Anna Tararova, Morgan Conservatory's gallery and artistic opportunities coordinator, fills us in on four must-see pieces in this year's show:

Sue Carrie Drummond

"A Darning Stitch"

Sue Carrie Drummond's book titled "A Darning Stitch" was made during her summer 2017 residency at Women's Studio Workshop with a Project Assistance Grant from College Book Arts Association. This book explores the concept of an invisible mend, contrasting the mend of a garment with the attempt to mend a relationship. Drummond used the blowout papermaking technique to make openings in sheets of freshly pulled paper as a way of referencing tears in her most treasured worn out clothes. She used the stories these imperfections told about her own life as inspiration for A Darning Stitch, which combines sewing instructions with episodes from a marriage gone wrong.

Sun Young Kang

"Hair"

The text in Sun Young Kang's book, "Hair," is embroidered with the artist's own hair, which she collects from her floor. Kang feels estranged from herself when the hair she once treasured is shed and becomes disgusting. "Hair" is a way for Kang to embrace these conflicting feelings. Kang is inspired by the Buddhist philosophy of "Emptiness"--every existence, every single moment that has ever existed, can only be conceived as either past or future. Negative space is essential in her work. According to Kang, the empty space suggests a meditative moment, an opportunity to reflect on one's self and the meaning of Emptiness in our lives.

Nicholas A. Knouf

"PIECES FOR PERFORMER(S) AND EXTRATERRESTRIAL ENTITIES"

Nicholas A. Knouf's "PIECES FOR PERFORMER(S) AND EXTRATERRESTRIAL ENTITIES" are from an ongoing series that create possible "event scores" for people here on Earth and extraterrestrial entities out there. In this case, "extraterrestrial" refers merely to anything of the surface of the Earth (extra-terrestrial). These scores are all possible--albeit challenging--performances that could be enacted between humans and rockets, satellites, space probes, or extraterrestrial beings. Knouf laser etched the scores onto 12"x18" sheets of translucent handmade abaca paper.

Nijole Palubinskas

"WOODS"

Nijole Palubinskas describes her art as abstract-realism. Her intaglio print "WOODS" is a landscape created from imagination. Born in Lithuania, she is a fourth-generation artist. A graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Art, her work has been shown in the Lithuanian National Museum in Vilnas and the Palanga Museum. Her art also hangs in private collections in Europe and the United States.